Steam iron



STEAM IRON 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed March l0, 1953 April 24, 1956 P. J. KIRCYHER STEAM IRON 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March l0, 1953 N @Pl INVENTOR. PA UL d. K//QCHE/Q A TOR/VE YS United States Patent STEAM. IRONy `Paul I'. Kircher, Planville, Conn., assignor to Landers,

Frary & Clark, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application March 10., 1.953 Serial. No. 341,436.

2 Claims. (Cl. 38h-77).

flash type that when the filling opening remains uncapped' or open, and especially when thev opening faces forwardly at an elevation not too far above the. reservoir itself, then the back and forth movement of the iron during an, ironingl operation causes turbulence of the water stored within the reservoir of the iron, such splashing about resulting in water passing up through the'lling passage and spilling out through the entrance or opening of such passage. y Y

Obviously, such a condition is objectionable and. ad. cordingly one purpose of the invention is to obviate any such happening by employing a highly effective baffle means that will not interfere with the illirlg or emptying of the iron but which will restrict the escape of the water from within the reservoir back through they filling opening.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide a baffle requiring no fastening means that would necessitatey physically attaching or connecting the baille to other-parts, of the iron. In this respect, it is an aim of the invention to facilitate the assembly of said. b aflle wit-hout noticeably adding to the time 'and eljort thatl would ber required if no baille were utilized.

A further purpose of the invention is to provide a bathe thatl needy not be cut to any exact length it being within the contemplation of the invention to employ a coil spring which may in each instance be cut sufficiently long so that in assembling the parts the bafle will be slightly compressed, thereby notonly avoiding any me chanical interference that might arise` if' the baiiiewere of a non-conformable. construction but additionallyl eliminating any tendency for the baffle-to rattle once the iron has been assembled. l

A still further object of the invention is to provide a baie that is exceedingly simple in construction and one which is very inexpensive to manufacture, actually being readily available as standard stock and therefore procurable on the open market.

Other objects will be in part obvious, and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims,

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevational View of the steam iron, parts of which have been removed to show the interior construction thereof, and

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken in the direction of line 2 2 of Figure l.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the flash type steam iron selected for the purpose of illustrating the invention 2 f has. been. designated in its. entirety by the,`r reference nu.` meral 10, the iron having a soleplatei 12 eqnippedwith; a. steam gener-.ating ehembee. passages and., exitffperts throughwhich the.- steami is extravasated` ente the. vfabric to.- be ironedf. Inheat transfer relationship withthe steam chamber and noni-.11a face is; an electric; heating` element, preferably embedded within the metal.y constituting the soleplate. Soleplates oi the foregoing character are. -well known and, tlienettnfe,v .it is not thought necessaryl to.- describe and illustrate the referred; t0 SQleplate construc-v tion in detail. i Y i A tubular posty 1'3 has its. lower end anchored-tto. the Soleplate 12 and abutsthe underside ci a shell creasing 14 at its upper end, thereby to aid in supportingsaidg shell in a slight-ly spaced Condition relative to the soleplate forthe purpose ef minimizing heat transferv from. said soleplate thereto, A screw 1,6; is pictured as, holding the, shell in xed relation to the; soleplate. Bracketf means (not shown) are used to support the rear portion.: of' the'. shell in, a somewhat similarfashion. i

While not apart of the invention,l an appropriate ther-A mostatic devicel having al vert-ical spindle ory shafty 18,' ex-. tends upwardly therefrom., and hasj, attached thereto. an arm 20 by which the thermostat may be adjusted to the desired ironing temperature. f f f The water to be used in the generation Ofsteam isA stored in a reservoir 22 end-forthe sake of ,compactness the; post I3. andthe spindle,- 18 are; arranged so. that they extend through intermediate portions; 0f the. reservoin there being apai-r of; heat insulating' bushings 24 andf26 encircling the; post and Spindle to minimizeZ the 1fadia-V tion of heat from these members, to. the water eontainedi in the reservoir. The yupper and lower endsof" these bushings. are,l needless to say, in sealing relai-i011v with: the reservoir 2,2 to prevent leakage. at thesel regions.

Near the forward end of the reservoir 22` an-.'up-E wardly directed sleeve 2,8, havingits lower end expanded and ilarecl into, tightengagement with the topf wall off'th'e reservoir. Assoeiated; with the. Sleeve 28; is. a somewhatA L ..shaped filler member 3i) containing a. passage 32' extendingA completelyl therethrough composed of a honiV zontal section 3,4 having an. entrance,y oropening at 36l and, a., vertical' section 38 through which water may? be introduced to the reservoir; ,The vertical passage sectiony 3.8 is of, such, size asti?. fil snugly about the sleevey 28;7 and. the ller member 30 in this.y way receives. the

maier part of its. support from. said; sleeve. A. resilient Clip 40,. however does, supply some retaining action, one. end of s'ai'd, clip 4Q being made fast with IeSPQGt. 'toV the; shell' 14 by reason of thesierew 16 already alluded to... vA. valve. Inechilnism,Y indicated. generally, by the .nii-f meral 42; serves to permit the downward ow of water from the reservoir 22 of the steam generating chamber, the valve mechanism including an opening 44 through which the water gravitationally enters the valve and a valve stem or rod 46 by which the valve mechanism may be opened and closed. The valve stem or rod 46 is reciprocable in an up and down direction through the vertical section 38 of the passage 32. v

Biasing the valve stern 46 upwardly is a coil spring 48, such action causing the valve mechanism 44 to be in an open condition, thereby permitting gravitational discharge of the water Within the reservoir 22 to the steam chamber therebelow- In order to close the valve 44, an actuator designated generally by the reference numeral 50 is employed, which actuator merely overcomes, when manipulated by the user, the upward or opening bias of the coil spring 48. The actuator 50 is encased within a hollow handle 52, use of which is made in lifting and guiding the iron 10 through the various motions necessary in carrying out ironing operations. In-

Petented Apr.. .24, 1.956 y asmuch asthe present actuator 50 is fully illustrated and described in my co-pending application entitled Indicator for Flatiron Control Means, Serial No. 215,318, led March 13, 1951, now Patent No. 2,642,027, issued on June 16, 1953, further details thereof are not believed needed at this time. Y

N Coming now to the crux of the invention, it will be observed that a coil or helical spring 54 is circumscribed about the valve stem 46, having its upper region received within the cylindrical confines of the sleeve 28. In the illustrated embodiment, the lower end of the spring 54 is circumposed about the valve means 42, thereby preventing this end from shifting relative to the bottom of the reservoir. The wire size of the spring 54, as well as the proximity of the adjacent turns, influence the bale effect produced by the spring and from actual tests a stainless steel spring of approximately gauge and 14 turns per inch has been found to give excellent results.

Apractical and efficient bafile, it should be emphasized, s required in conjunction with uncapped or open passages, such as the pictured passage 32, inasmuch as in use the iron is moved back and forth, a sudden stopping in the forward travel of the iron causing the water confined in the reservoir 22 to move forwardly with suicient turbulence to cause the water to splash up through the passage 32, then spilling out the opening 36. However, with adjacent turns of the coil spring 54 in relatively close proximity with each other it will be apparent that a baille action is produced which effectually resists any such loss of water. The bale 54, on the other hand, does not interfere with adding water to or emptying the reservoir whenever necessary, an upending of the iron facilitating this procedure.

Not only is the spring 54 inuential in producing the above-noted effect, but owing to the compressibility of the spring 54, its free length can always be made somewhat longer than is actually necessary for any installation, the spring merely yielding to the extent required when the member is lowered into place, since the member 30 is equipped with a curved or arcuate shoulder 56 which abuts the upper end of the spring to compress the spring whatever amount is required to permit proper orientation of said member 30. Also, by always having the free length of the spring slightly longer than is ac tually needed, it will bevappreciated that there is never any likelihood that the spring will be loose and rattle during the life of the iron. Still further, it is to be observed that no auxiliary fastening means is required to anchor the batlie, -when it assumes the form of a coil Spring as described hereinvr and depicted in the accompanying drawings. Yet another advantage stemming from the use of a coil spring bale is tov be found during the inspection procedure at the factory, as the iron moves down the assembly line, for before the member 30 and 55 handle 52y are attached, the spring 54 will be plainly said soleplate, handle means surmounting said reservoir,`

a member containing a ller passage leading to said reservoir, said passage including a cylindrical portion forming a permanently open filling opening through which water may be introduced to said reservoir via said passage, and coil means of approximately the same outer diameter as the inner diameter of the cylindrical portion of the filler passage extending from the interior of the passage of the bottom of the reservoir said coil means serving as a baffle to resist escape of water stored in said reservoir back through said passage and out through said opening during an ironing operation involving back and forth movements.

2. A steam iron comprising a solcplate, a reservoir superimposed above said soleplate and extending longitudinally relative thereto, valve means disposed near the forward end of said reservoir providing communication between the interior of said reservoir and said soleplatc including a vertically projecting valve stem for adjusting said valve means, handle means surmounting said reservoir, a member containing a passage leading to said reservoir having permanently open substantially horizontal and vertical portions forming a forwardly facing filling opening through which water may be introduced to said reservoir via said passage when the iron is upended, said valve stern passing through the vertical passage portion. a downwardly facing shoulder in the vertical passage por tion, and a coil spring of approximately the same diameter as the vertical passage circumscribing said valve stem and having itsl upper end seated on said shoulder in the vertical passage portion and its lower section extending to the bottom of said reservoir, said coil spring having itsv adjacent turns sulciently close together to form a baie for resisting the escape of water stored in said reservoir back through said passage and out through said opening during an ironing operation involving back and forth movements.

References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,133,520 Ritz-Weller Oct. 18, 1938 2,322,593 Riddington et al.4 June 22, l943 2,587,608 Finlayson Mar. 8, i952 2,663,100 Bricker Dec. 22, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 169,541 Great Britain Oct. 5, 1921 

